Demonstrators in Westlake District Demand Justice for Missing Mexican Students

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Demonstrators gathered in the Westlake District on Saturday to demand justice for 43 missing Mexican college students who were reportedly kidnapped and killed.

Demonstrators gathered in the Westlake District on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014, to demand justice for 43 Mexican students who were abducted and reportedly killed. (Credit: KTLA)

Investigators believe the mayor of Iguala ordered the abduction of the students, who were then turned over to a gang that burned their bodies after killing them, according to Mexico's attorney general. Officials cautioned that the theory has not yet been confirmed by DNA tests.

The alleged massacre has sparked international outrage and protests, including one on Saturday in front of the Mexican consulate in Los Angeles.

"This is not the only time that it has happened," said activist Genesis Condiz, referring to previous mass killings in the violence-ravaged nation. "This is the first time that everybody — the whole world — is knowing about it."

The 43 victims, students at a college in rural Ayotzinapa, had been en route to a protest in nearby Iguala when they were abducted, said Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam.

The latter city's mayor, Jose Luis Abarca, and his wife, Maria de los Angeles Pineda, have been arrested in connection with the case.

Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto has pledged his full support to the investigation of the incident.

But demonstrators, some of whom on Saturday accused Peña Nieto of being an "assassin," say they want him to take swift action or resign.